1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to classification methods and systems, and, in particular, to methods and systems for classifying optically acquired character images and to methods and systems for training such.
2. Statement of Related Art
In the field of package shipping, packages are routed from origins to destinations throughout the world according to destination addresses typed on shipping labels applied to these packages. In order to route packages, it is desirable to use automated optical character classification systems that can read those addresses. Such a classification system must be able to classify characters as quickly as possible. Conventional optical character classification systems using spherical neurons, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,326,259 (Cooper et al.), may be unable to execute the processing requirements presented by certain applications without a substantial investment in hardware.